portland, pt.2

saturday was an amazing day in portland. i wasn't feeling so hot - i'm fighting some strange bug, or something - but i was determined not to let it get us down. my friend fed us a huge breakfast of oatmeal, fruit, and coffee, and we headed out to pleasant mountain for a hike. she's... pretty nordic. she's incredibly fit, and outdoorsy to the point that it doesn't surprise me in the least to hear she's doing something called "frosty sailing," or some such, sailing in maine till christmas for a team. seriously. she's TOUGH. and amazing. anyway, she said the planned hike was 2.5 miles each way, and i agreed. what we didn't count on, however, was snow! we didn't make it to the summit, but enjoyed a great (challenging for me, breezy for her) hike, stopping to chat every five seconds not just because i was panting, but because we couldn't converse over the crunching of our icy steps. we were out for almost 3 hours, and i think somewhere toward the beginning of the hike i may have sweated out a fever, because i felt quite a bit better by the time we got back to her car. (note to self: heated seats are pretty great, and probably essential in maine)

after a quick stop for groceries and chicken soup for a little snack, we went back to her place for super hot showers and a change of clothes, then headed over to her friend ryan's house for... wait for it... lobsters! when in maine, right? she and ryan and their friends alyssa and aaron and i had an incredible lobster feast (i'm proud to say i went joint for joint with this table of maine-ers, chowing down on the crustaceans like a pro. extra props to alyssa, though, for going for the body meat!), complete with lobster bibs. we followed up the meal with brownie sundays and a game of mexican train dominoes, and i kicked their booties soundly, mt. rainier represent! and, of course, on this perfect maine trip, it was snowing when we left that evening, big fat flakes that we also got to wake up to. just enough to be gorgeous, but not to cancel our trip to boston today.

poking around boston today brought back great memories of the last time she and i and our good friend heather visited boston, years ago. we walked newberry street in the snow, popping in and out of shops, and picking up amazing sandwiches to eat in the car en route to the airport. it was a fantastic trip, a lovely weekend getaway, and it's also so nice to be home with my kitties, my cam, and my christmas tree, ready for another week. if it's not obvious, i'm thankful for friends.

ps. picture to come... my camera seems to be out of batteries, and it's time for bed.

portland, maine

what a night!  after a perfectly smooth day of travel yesterday (bus to metro to plane to bus - it was so luxurious not to drive anywhere!), i hopped into my friend's subaru and after a quick stop by her place, we hit portland.  i got to meet a ton of her friends - realllly nice people - and the boy turning her head right now.  i had a ball being the new girl in town, chatting with all her friends, and just seeing how my she lives here.  portland seems like a pretty sweet city (if FREEZING), and i'm looking forward to seeing more of it in the light today.  this afternoon we're going to hike at pleasant mountain (only time will tell if that's a misnomer or not... i'm in terrible shape!), and rumors continue to swirl about a big lobster dinner tonight.  the only thing i'm worried about right now is the snow in the forecast for tonight and sunday... don't want to have flight issues getting home!

finally, no word from cam yet on how the fishing tournament's going.  this means one of two things: either the stripers aren't biting, or no one's phone is working.  i think the latter's a bit more likely than the former, but we'll see.  fingers crossed for sunday rockfish dinner!

flip-side

time to lighten things up a bit - today i'm thankful for brevity! in typical sarah fashion, i need to leave the house in 40 minutes, and before then, i need to shower, pack, take care of the kitties, and blog. guess which i'm doing?

i'm headed to maine this weekend to visit a dear friend. maine in december sounds a bit insane but hell, i've been there in july, so why not really do it right this time? she's got all kinds of plans for us - a bar tonight, where there's a party her friends will all be attending. i'm excited to meet them! we'll get some exercise tomorrow (she's totally nordic), then there's a possibility of a lobster bake tomorrow night! crazy. i'm flying out of boston, so sunday she and i plan to leave portland with enough time to walk around that city, too. it's a whirlwind, but it should be super fun.

i know i've committed to blog daily, and i WILL blog tomorrow, i'm just not sure it'll show up here till sunday. if she's got internet i can hop on, i will, but failing that, i'll blog on my blackberry and save it for posting sunday. have a great weekend, friends, and i'll see you on the flip!